Environment

WASHINGTON – Florida officials are warning that they may sue he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At issue are claims the corps is violating the federal Endangered Species Act with drought plans to continue limiting downstream flows of water from reservoirs in northern Georgia into the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. “The Corps’ operations continue to jeopardize …

By SEAN MUSSENDENMedia General News Service WASHINGTON—The Bush administration published a last-minute rule Friday that will make it easier for strip-mining operations to dump waste in streams. Environmental advocates say the change will increase the practice of mountain-top removal coal mining in Appalachia. They’re pushing President-elect Barack Obama to reverse the rule after he takes …

WASHINGTON-The 2009 federal budget will include funding for some strange animals if one Virginia lawmaker has his way. Rep. Rick Boucher, a Democrat from southwest Virginia, has requested $744,325 to study the horseshoe crab and $250,000 for hair sheep – a unique bread of short-haired sheep that does not require shearing. Both requests would go …